Now Playing -- The Movie Review Podcast

Also includes reviews of "Pikachu's Vacation" and "Origin of Mewtwo"   Arnie, Justin, and Pika-Stu are strapping on the boxing gloves and going head-to-head with Pokemon - the second most popular video game franchise of all time. Can the hosts survive six rounds with these irrepressibly cute “pocket monsters”, starting with their blockbuster animated First Movie?  Legendary baddie MewTwo hopes to wipe them and every other living being off the face of the earth with an epic flood, making way for a new generation of genetically modified critters.  Catch all the laughs and excitement when you listen now! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Now Playing is adding more Stephen King to their movie diet - starting with an adaptation of the horror scribe’s best-selling weight loss plan Thinner. Magic man Tadzu Lempke can help you melt away excess pounds without exercise or fasting, thanks to one of his custom gypsy curses. Can an obese lawyer eat a slice of humble pie, atone for running over Tadzu’s mother, and get his hex lifted before he wastes away to a skeleton? And is this production plagued by the same bad taste that’s caused so many other King works to belly flop on screen? Listen and find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Happy Death Day blew out the candles and got its wish--major profit for Blumhouse, but what will happen when the movie itself loops and begins a sequel? And how much did the trailers lie about the movie's plot? These questions and many more are answered in this episode of Now Playing Podcast! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Happy Death Day is a lighthearted whodunit slasher film, equal parts Groundhog Day, Friday the 13th, and Sixteen Candles. We follow college student Tree (Jessica Rothe) as she relives the same day again and again, always ending the same way--her murder. Is this a movie worth watching over and over again, or should it be tossed off like a bad hangover? Join the Now Playing hosts now to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Harold Ramis and Bill Murray collaborated often in the ‘80s, producing beloved films like Caddyshack and Ghostbusters. Their final team-up was in 1993’s Groundhog Day. The high concept premise of a man forced to relive the same day again and again surpassed its comedic roots, and the film has become a modern-day classic. Did Ramis and Murray save the best for last? Well, rise-and-shine campers, it’s time to listen to Now Playing’s review of Groundhog Day! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

The Leprechaun is back, and he's on the attack! Leprechaun Returns is a new film rebooting franchise continuity and picking up after the events of the original 1993 Leprechaun. Intrigued? Our review comes out next month, but you can join Arnie now as he goes behind the scenes of Leprechaun Returns. Listen to these exclusive interviews with star Taylor Spreitler, new Leprechaun Linden Porco, and Leprechaun Returns' director Steven Kostanski. Hear this interview, then head to NowPlayingPodcast.com/Donate to get all our Leprechaun movie reviews! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Tom Hardy didn’t have to drive like Mad Max to get moviegoers’ attention in 2014. Watch the method actor slip behind the wheel of indie Locke and get taken on a harrowing ride through one man’s midlife crisis. Why does a successful builder of skyscrapers throw away his career and marriage on an impromptu road trip to London? And will Arnie, Jakob, or Stuart get carsick spending all 84 minutes of the film locked in a BMW? Fasten your seat belts, crack open a cider, and become a backseat driver for this lively discussion of a one man show. Listen Now! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Now Playing is about to unleash a Biblical plague better known as Face/Off - one of the 1990’s wildest action flicks! Hong Kong export John Woo created the ultimate body swap movie when he directed lawman John Travolta to surgically remove his face, and infiltrate a maximum security prison wearing the mug of terrorist Nicolas Cage. Meanwhile the bad guy uses his captor’s discarded flesh to masquerade at work and home as the dedicated cop. Find out if this head trip is a turn/on, or a slap in the face, for Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart when you Listen Now! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Agent 47 is back and balder than ever in a 2015 relaunch of the Hitman franchise.  Can Homeland actor Rupert Friend make a stronger impression than Timothy Olyphant as the legendary cloned assassin trades bullets with wannabe Wolverine Zachary Quinto? And can new agent Hannah Ware really be 43 times better than the boys if it takes her 43 years to locate sickly bioengineer Ciaran Hinds? Trust Justin, Stuart, and Arnie to protect listeners from head trauma as they navigate another treacherous video game adaptation. Listen now! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Justin, Arnie, and Stuart use the 42nd installment of the Now Playing Arcade to celebrate being 47… that is, video game Hitman: Codename 47. Die Hard 4 villain Timothy Olyphant hoped to make a killing at the box office when he suited up to play this mysterious baldie with a barcode back in Thanksgiving 2007.  But can his follically-challenged assassin deliver enough carnage and believable romantic chemistry with beautiful Russian target Olga Kurylenko to satisfy audiences not holding a joystick?  Find out when you slip on some headphones and Listen Now. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

The Last Knight left many Transformers fans feeling stung, but Hasbro hopes to reawaken nostalgia for the 1980s toy line with their retro-minded solo film Bumblebee. Can the lovable VW bug connect with a grieving gearhead teenager (Hailee Steinfeld) using only a car radio to speak? And will Sector 7 jarhead John Cena, or Decepticons Shatter (Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (Justin Theroux), undermine the Autobot plot to relocate to Earth? Don’t take this high dive back into dicey waters alone.  Roll out with Jerry, Arnie, and Stuart. Listen Now! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

DC Comics invites audiences to dive under the sea and get chummy with Aquaman - a character who got a lot of sand kicked in his face back in the days of Superfriends.  Now tough guy Jason Momoa is on the hook to win the bastard Atlantean some cinematic justice. Will he stop half-brother King Orm (Patrick Wilson) from becoming Oceanmaster, and uniting the seven seas against the surface world?  More importantly, can "Fishboy" talk crabby podcasters Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart out of torpedoing his first stand-alone feature? Listen and find out. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Thanos may have turned Tom Holland and half the Marvel Universe into ash last summer, but you can still find a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man on the big screen when you enter Into The Spider-Verse. Sony Pictures Animation brings together no less than nine different incarnations of the comic book webslinger - including Miles Morales, Peni Parker, and porcine punchline Spider-Ham - for an amazing mixed media showdown with Kingpin. Does this inter-dimensional crossover get the Spidey Senses tingling for Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart?  Listen and find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Mark Wahlberg aimed to please fans of the popular shooter Max Payne, but his 2008 movie adaptation missed its target audience and clipped the wings of a potential franchise. Will this vigilante cop have better luck scoring points with Now Playing Arcade hosts Justin, Arnie, and Stuart?  And can they coherently link the man who murdered Max’s family to a wild conspiracy involving hallucinogenic street drugs and C-list celebrities Mila Kunis, Chris O’Donnell, and singer Nelly Furtado? Your best shot at finding answers is to Listen Now! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

The Rocky series continues to go the distance with its eighth installment: Creed II. But is this really Adonis Creed’s story, or is it Rocky’s, as old nemesis Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) brings his son Viktor to the US for a fight? Will history repeat itself? And can Creed II still pack a punch when Creed writer/director Ryan Coogler is replaced with his buddy Steven Caple Jr? Go for it! Listen to Now Playing’s new movie review to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Wreck-It Ralph not only Breaks The Internet with his second movie, he shatters Thanksgiving box office records. But never fear… it’s Tech Support Tuesday, and hosts Justin, Arnie, and Stuart have the antivirus to all the holiday weekend hype. Will entering a violent racing game help glitchy Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) connect with her inner Disney Princess, and save her Sugar Rush friends? Or will John C Reilly’s 8-bit oaf bring down the franchise with a series of humiliating viral videos? CLICK HERE to get your next Now Playing Arcade fix! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Good video games typically "go Turbo" and become crummy movies, but Walt Disney animators try to "Fix-It" with Wreck-It Ralph - a love letter to classic coin-ops. Can an 8-bit villain voiced by John C. Reilly step into a first person shooter and rebrand himself a hero? And do Arnie, Justin, and Stuart get a sugar rush seeing so much pixelated nostalgia from their childhood, like Q*bert and Sonic the Hedgehog? Or will they inevitably find something to glitch about? Save your quarters, because the answers are free when you press play and Listen Now! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

It’s homecoming weekend in Silent Hill, as teenage runaway Sharon reunites with her darkside doppelganger Alessa for a 2012 sequel in 3-D!  Will the Revelation that cultists have kidnapped adoptive father Sean Bean provide a good reason for moviegoers to head back into the fog and solve new puzzles? And is Game of Thrones hunk Kit Harington much help in the fight against Pyramid Head, a lunatic Malcolm McDowell, and a staff of faceless demon nurses?  Find out when you take another merry-go-round ride on the Now Playing Arcade! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

The Now Playing Arcade finally has a reason to put down the flamethrower!  Hosts Arnie, Stuart, and Justin stumble through the falling ash of Uwe Boll films to arrive at Silent Hill - the rare video game movie to earn box office success. Will stranded mother Radha Mitchell find any Green Arrows while searching the West Virginian ghost town for her missing adoptive daughter Sharon?  And is that a pyramid, or a dunce cap, atop the head of the sword-wielding monster that follows close behind her? Quiet your questioning mind with another podcast review! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Because we consider you family, Now Playing is releasing a bonus podcast review of Hereditary for your Halloween enjoyment.  Will Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob lose their heads over what’s become the most hyped horror flick of 2018?  Or is the sight of Toni Collette’s model household going insane more likely to induce headaches than heart palpitations?  You don’t need to worship King Paimon to acquire these answers. This show is free for everyone, and available now, as our way of saying Happy, Happy Halloween! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support